U.S. patent number 5,099,549 [Application Number 07/745,852] was granted by the patent office on 1992-03-31 for retaining clip.
This patent grant is currently assigned to A. Raymond et cie.. Invention is credited to Klaus Hullmann, Ingo Klamm.
United States Patent |
5,099,549 |
Hullmann , et al. |
March 31, 1992 |
Retaining clip
Abstract
A retaining clip for fastening a construction part to a carrier
plate, in which the retaining clip has a supporting plate that
rests on the carrier plate, a clamping tab for holding the part to
the clip and a compressible fastening sleeve formed of two sleeve
wall halves for anchoring the clip in a hole in the carrier plate.
At least one of the sleeve halves has a pair of outwardly
projecting, resiliently compressible hooks that pass through the
hole and then engage the plate from behind when the sleeve of the
clip is pressed into the hole to hold the clip in place, and a pair
of tabs adjacent the hooks that project outwardly beyond the edges
of the hole on the front side of the carrier plate, so that when
the tabs are squeezed together, the hooks will be released and the
clip can be readily removed.
Inventors: |
Hullmann; Klaus (Lorrach,
DE), Klamm; Ingo (Weil/Rh, DE) |
Assignee: |
A. Raymond et cie. (Grenoble,
FR)
|
Family
ID: |
6412918 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/745,852 |
Filed: |
August 16, 1991 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
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Aug 25, 1990 [DE] |
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4026922 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
24/295; 24/289;
24/293 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16B
5/123 (20130101); F16B 5/125 (20130101); Y10T
24/307 (20150115); Y10T 24/30 (20150115); Y10T
24/304 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
F16B
5/12 (20060101); A44B 021/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;24/295,292,293,289 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Sakran; Victor N.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow,
Garrett & Dunner
Claims
What we claim is:
1. In a retaining clip for fastening a construction part to a
carrier plate, in which the retaining clip has a supporting plate
that rests on the carrier plate, at least one clamping tab for
holding the part to the clip and a compressible fastening sleeve
formed of two sleeve wall halves for anchoring the clip in a hole
in the carrier plate, in which at least one of said sleeve halves
has a pair of outwardly projecting, resiliently compressible hooks
adapted to pass through the hole and then engage the plate from the
underside when the sleeve of the clip is pressed into the hole to
hold the clip in place, the improvement comprising a pair of tabs
on said at least one sleeve half adjacent said hooks that project
outwardly beyond the edges of the hole on the front side of the
carrier plate when the clip is in place, said supporting plate of
said clip having an opening in the region around said tabs to
permit access to them, whereby squeezing of the tabs together will
release the hooks and permit the clip to be removed.
2. The retaining clip of claim 1, wherein the hooks are provided on
the upper edge of a single sleeve wall half and these extend in the
same direction as the clamping tab of the retaining clip.
3. The retaining clip of claim 2, wherein said single sleeve wall
half is suspended from the supporting plate of the clip by a
multiple angled resilient web that pulls the hooks up against the
underside of the carrier plate when the fastening sleeve of the
clip is pressed into the hole.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a retaining clip for fastening
construction parts to carrier plates. More particularly, it relates
to clips for fastening trim elements to the body panels of motor
vehicles.
Clips of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,377. These
clips hold protective or decorative molding or strips on motor
vehicles and are anchored in place by means of a split fastening
sleeve that fits in appropriately placed holes in the body or doors
of the vehicles. However, a disadvantage of these clips is that
they can be removed only by compressing the fastening sleeve from
the rear side, so that their fastening hooks can then pass
unimpeded out the hole. To do this, it is usually necessary to
remove any trim panels from inside the vehicle beforehand to gain
access to the sleeves. If the clip is used at locations where the
fastening sleeve cannot be reached from behind, then all that can
be done to remove it is to destroy it completely. Experience has
shown, however, that the edges of the fastening hole are then
adversely affected and under certain circumstances can even become
unusable.
An object of the present invention, therefore, is to design a
fastening sleeve for the above-mentioned retaining clip in such a
way that it can be subsequently removed or dismounted from the
assembly side, without damaging the edges of the fastening
hole.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This object is achieved, in accordance with the present invention
by providing in a retaining clip for fastening a construction part
to a carrier plate having a supporting plate that rests on the
carrier plate, at least one clamping tab for holding the part to
the clip and a compressible fastening sleeve formed of two sleeve
wall halves for anchoring the clip in a hole in the carrier plate,
in which at least one of said sleeve halves has a pair of outwardly
projecting, resiliently compressible hooks adapted to pass through
the hole and then engage the plate from the underside when the
sleeve of the clip is pressed into the hole to hold the clip in
place, the improvement comprising a pair of tabs on said at least
one sleeve half adjacent said hooks that project outwardly beyond
the edges of the hole on the front side of the carrier plate when
the clip is in place, said supporting plate of said clip having an
opening in the region around said tabs to permit access to them,
whereby squeezing of the tabs together will release the hooks and
permit the clip to be removed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in
the drawings and will be explained in more detail below. In the
drawings:
FIG. 1 is a bottom view of one embodiment of a retaining clip
having a fastening sleeve of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the retaining clip of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a partial view of the fastening sleeve of the clip taken
in the direction "Z" in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 shows the retaining clip in an installed position;
FIG. 5 is a side view of the retaining clip during
installation;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the retaining clip during removal;
FIG. 7 is a top view of the retaining clip during removal; and
FIG. 8 is a side view of another embodiment of the retaining clip
in an installed position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The retaining clips shown in the drawings are used, in general
terms, to fasten construction parts to carrier plates and
particularly to fasten trim elements to the body panels of motor
vehicles.
The retaining clip includes a supporting plate 1 that rests on a
carrier plate 2 and a clamping tab 3 which also rests on the
carrier plate 2 and which serves to hold a construction part (not
shown), such as, for example, a trim panel or a decorative piece of
molding (See FIG. 4).
On the underside of supporting plate 1 is a downwardly projecting
fastening sleeve 4 formed from two sleeve wall halves 5 and 6. One
sleeve wall half 5 is connected directly to the supporting plate 1
via a downwardly angled web 7, while the other sleeve wall half 6
is suspended from it by being connected to the supporting plate 1
in a "roundabout" way via a multiple, angled resilient web 8 that
bridges the region of the fastening sleeve 4. These two sleeve wall
halves 5 and 6 as well as web 8 are punched out of the sheet-metal
strip used to make the clip and are then bent into an approximately
closed sleeve shape as shown so that their mutually opposite sleeve
wall parts 9 and 10 taper downwardly toward a point.
Formed on the lower wall part 9 of sleeve 5 is a short tab 20 which
penetrates into a correspondingly wide cutout 21 at the lower end
of the wall part 10 of sleeve 6, so that the two sleeve wall halves
5 and 6 are centered relative to one another, but can also move
resiliently towards one another.
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, hooks or noses 12 are provided on either
side of suspended sleeve wall half 6 that project laterally outward
below the level of supporting plate 1. These hooks are positioned
to lock behind the edges 13 of a hole 11 in carrier plate 2 when
the clip is installed in the plate by pushing it fastening sleeve 4
down into the hole to lock it in place. In accordance with the
invention, immediately next to these hooks 12 and projecting
outwardly from the upper regions of sleeve wall half 6 above the
level of supporting plate 1 are dismounting tabs 15. These tabs
extend beyond the side edges 13 of the front side of hole 11 when
the hooks 12 are engaged behind the carrier plate. Supporting plate
1 of the clip has an open space 16 in the region around the
dismounting tabs 15 to accommodate and provide access to them.
FIG. 5 shows the retaining clip during installation. To make
installation easier, fastening sleeve 4 of the clip is pressed with
a small hand tool 17 down into hole 11 in carrier plate 2. During
installation, the suspended sleeve wall half 6 is pushed towards
wall 5 until the hooks 12 pass by the edges 13 of hole 11, after
which wall 6 will spring back to hold the clip in place.
Furthermore, resilient web 8 is designed to draw up on sleeve wall
6 to firmly engage hooks 12 with the underside of plate 2 and
against the action of resilient clamping tab 3. In the embodiment
illustrated, the retaining clip is supported resiliently on the
side opposite clamping tab 3 by means of two supporting tabs 18
that rest on an angled side wall 2' of the carrier plate 2. FIG. 4
shows the clip in its intended installed position.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, to remove the retaining clip, the
dismounting tabs 15, projecting outwardly from the upper sides of
fastening hole 11, are compressed towards each other by means of
flat or long-nose pliers 19 until the hooks or noses 12 are free
from the edges 13 of the hole 11 and the sleeve 4 of the clip can
be drawn out of the hole. Recess 16 is of a size such that flat
pliers 19 can be easily applied from the side at a low inclination
and the dismounting tabs 15 grasped firmly.
Thus with tabs 15 it is possible, after removing the trim elements,
to release the retaining clip simply by compressing the tabs
together by means of a conventional tool. The hooks or noses
forming part of the same sleeve on which the tabs are formed are
thereby pressed inwards until the fastening sleeve easily comes
free.
The use of the dismounting tabs 15 is not restricted to the design
of the fastening sleeve 4 shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, but, as is evident
from FIG. 8, can also be used in split fastening sleeves in which
the sleeve wall halves that are punched out of the recess are bent
towards one another by singly angled webs 7 and 22.
This type of retaining clip is employed in the roof region of a
motor vehicle and possesses two clamping tabs 23 and 24, into which
the retaining web 25 of a side trim piece (not shown) is inserted.
The fastening sleeve 4 of this retaining clip is anchored in a hole
of the roof plate 26 in the same way as in the above-mentioned
embodiment and can also be released again by means of the flat
pliers in the same way.
* * * * *